Mortal Sin

Father Ripperger reminds us all that one mortal sin sends us to hell.

We must avoid mortal sin and confess it asap.

Do not wait.

Natural law in our hearts, minds, souls, informs us as humans what is serious sin.

Here is the CCC. My boldface type....

1860 Unintentional ignorance can diminish or even remove the imputability of a grave offense. But no one is deemed to be ignorant of the principles of the moral law, which are written in the conscience of every man. The promptings of feelings and passions can also diminish the voluntary and free character of the offense, as can external pressures or pathological disorders. Sin committed through malice, by deliberate choice of evil, is the gravest.

Few people are truly ignorant in Western society. So many opportunities for learning Catholic teaching exist, more than at any time in history, that those who stubbornly refuse to learn, to soften their hard hearts, to inform their consciences, are most likely culpable.

Why would someone continually chose evil over good? 

A good friend of mine told me this, and he is a young, young man.

"Some people just choose hell."  I am afraid he is correct.

They choose eternal death.

Hello to Readers in Sweden

I am glad to know there is the EF in Sweden!

Duh!

It finally dawned on me today why all the leaders of nations are denying that the wars in the Middle East have anything to do with religion. This is a daily denial of reality.

Reason: if they admitted that Islam was violent, which they do not, they would have to admit the Catholic Church was right all along regarding Vienna, Lepanto, etc., which these seculars do not want to do.

So, in continually denying the reality of Truth and the possibility of true and false religions, they deny what is obvious.

I call this stupidity.

Leaders from almost all Western nations are in denial about the reality of violence, or peace because of religions views.

Of course, religion could not possibly be that important.

Duh! Well, I was not concerned about denials until I sat down this morning and looked at the multitude of denials in the past several days.

Now, denial is epidemic.

Where are the real leaders, the real men?

Think on this today

Catechism of the Catholic Church:

2307. All citizens and all governments are obliged to work for the avoidance of war. Despite this admonition of the Church, it sometimes becomes necessary to use force to obtain the end of justice. This is the right, and the duty, of those who have responsibilities for others, such as civil leaders and police forces. While individuals may renounce all violence those who must preserve justice may not do so, though it should be the last resort, “once all peace efforts have failed.”

I cannot watch this because of Net problems

http://moneymorningtv.com/rickards/ocho.php?pub_id=454975&s1=gdnmmp3

If someone can and comment, great.

15 million people on food stamps.

23% unemployment

You may be interested...

In case you only follow the msn

http://www.timesofisrael.com/islamic-state-secretly-near-israel-border-syrian-rebel-group-claims/

msn=main stream news...

On The Sin of Anxiety

1 Peter 5:5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

  Luke 12:4 “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. ⁵ But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has power to cast into hell, yes, I tell you, fear him! ⁶ Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. ⁷ Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.

And from Philippians 4:

  6 Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸ Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. ⁹ What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, do; and the God of peace will be with you.

For years, when I went to confession, I would tell the priest I was confessing the sin of anxiety. All said it was not a sin, but I knew my Scripture and the teaching of the Church concerning trusting in God and believing in Divine Providence. I knew I was sinning.

Finally, I met a priest who understood that anxiety, (unless caused by something physical), is indeed a sin. Then, I began to work on this sin in my life. God bless that good and holy priest.

I discovered several things. 

thanks to wiki commons

One, anxiety is an insult to God. St. Teresa of Avila states this plainly. She also has much to say about trust. Trust is obeying the First Commandment.

 “Let nothing disturb you,
Let nothing frighten you,
All things are passing away:
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things.
Whoever has God lacks nothing;
God alone suffices.” 

It is an insult not to trust because God takes care of all our needs. He is God.

Two, from all eternity, God knew you would be sitting right now at your computer reading this, with all your problems, concerns, sins. He does not ignore anything in your life.

Three, troubles, sufferings, pain, etc. are allowed by God in His Permissive Will. He allows these for our purification.

Again from St. Teresa:

Consider carefully, daughters, these few things that have been set down here, though they are in rather a jumbled state, for I cannot explain them better; the Lord will make them clear to you, so that these period of aridity may teach you to be humble, and not make you restless, which is the aim of the devil. Be sure that, where there is true humility, even if God never grants the soul favors, He will give it peace and resignation to His will, with which it may be more content than others are with favors. For often, as you have read, it is to the weakest that His Divine Majesty gives favors, which I believe they would not exchange for all the fortitude given to those who go forward in aridity. We are fonder for spiritual sweetness than of crosses. Test us, O Lord, Thou Who knowest all truth, that we may know ourselves. 

thanks to wiki

Four, pride is the sin underlying anxiety as the priest told me. We want to be in control and not let God be God. Therefore, we let ourselves stew on things and worry. Again, trust is the response of the humble heart to the First Commandment. Humility is the virtue to combat anxiety.

Five, anxiety as a lack of trust, interferes with our relationship with God, of course. Can you imagine a love relationship between two people wherein one does not trust the other? That lack of trust would destroy the friendship or marriage. So, too, anxiety chips away at our relationship with God.

Six, anxiety may be a result of unresolved sins, especially the presence of the predominant faults. We sense we are not in the right place and begin to worry instead of facing the problem of purification. Some people are afraid to face sin in their lives and guilt turns into anxiety.

I was so relieved when I finally found that priest who spoke the truth about the sin of anxiety. It is the plague of Americans, who want everything to be "just so". Those who are use to being in control of situations panic in old age when they can no longer control their bodies. Learning to trust in God early is a great spiritual lesson which will continue all of our lives. Learning to rely on Divine Providence will be essential for the remnant.

Memento Mori

When one reaches my parents' ages of 86 and 91, many friends will have died.

Even at my age, I have lost people who were my age, slightly older and slightly younger.

One such person with whom I worked died last week, a wonderfully creative woman completely dedicated to her students of the school where she was principal for years, and highly respected by the parents, as well as the faculty.

I have not lost many friends, as Midwesterners tend to live long. Also, my generation is, in general, more health conscious than the next two beneath it.

However, when someone one knows dies, the occasion brings about a solemnity of thought.

One must face one's own death.

We live in a culture which idolizes a false idea of life. Life is a preparation for death, when each one of us shall see God face to face.

That most people forget this means we do not talk about death realistically. As Catholics, we know that death is not an ending, but a beginning. Death begins eternal life, either in heaven or hell, with a possible detour for purification into Purgatory. But, death ends our time to gain merit, be purified on earth, do good deeds, love.

Some people never really live before they die. They live in shadow-lands of fear or depression, sloth or lukewarmness.

None of us want to be forgotten after death. Some can imagine a spouse or children remembering one with fondness. For some, there is no one to remember.

One of my favorite novels, perhaps my third favorite after Little Dorrit and Mansfield Part, is Bleak House. Whenever I re-read it, and I have a habit of re-reading my favorites again and again and again, I am intrigued by the character of Lady Deadlock, so beautifully played by Diana Rigg in the old BBC series, which I highly recommend if one does not want to read the book.

Lady Deadlock, as her name implies, buried a secret, hidden from her "natural" daughter and her husband. But, what is interesting is that after such a long time, she still loves her first love, "Nemo", the father of her daughter.

Lady Deadlock's secret is unravelled by a malicious character, one of Dickens most hideous creatures, who is a sadist, enjoying bringing pain and ruin to others. He is also a narcissist. But, his character is meat for another post.

Lady Deadlock dies outside the pauper's cemetery after she has discovered her long lost lover who died is buried. Her daughter finds her just as she is dying.

The woman shows us that love is stronger than death, and that some people die for love.

Christ died for love.

As the Catholic thinks of his death, he has the great comfort of knowing One Human, Who is also God, went before him in death and conquered death. Love overcomes death.

This is our faith.



In memory of Mrs. Barbara Doerner, RIP. She encouraged me to use my creative ideas in my curriculum, and stood by my unusual decisions in teaching. We shared in the love of life, but never forgetting why we were created.

Some Scenes Should Not Be Forgotten

2001 seems like a very long time ago....

YESTERDAY, was my biggest Saturday viewing ever

About 2,000 readers, on a day which is usually a low hit day, as many people do not check the blog on Saturdays, is amazing.

Thank you, Readers. It is so cold here, I needed a little good cheer.

Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows

As I belong to the Third Order of the Society of the Most Sorrowful Mother, which is connected to Fr. Chad Ripperger's new order and the Auxilium Christianorum, this is "our" day.

Here is a site and there is an email for more information at the bottom. The Doloran Fathers write this:

The priests of the nascent Society of the Most Sorrowful Mother, the "Doloran Fathers," work in cooperation with our local bishop to provide the assistance of the rites and prayers of our Holy Mother, the Church to some of the most spiritually afflicted suffering souls, many unable to find relief or deliverance from their affliction for years. Characterized as semi-contemplative, a good deal of prayer is required of the Doloran priests each day to support their challenging mission.

 How does one "celebrate" such a feast day?

With great gratitude that Our Lady willed her own Son's suffering...

I had this holy card as a very young girl and I remember looking carefully at it.  I do not know what happened to it. As our Sorrowful Mother, Mary is also the Mediatrix of All Grace and the Co-Redeptorix. I can hardly wait until the Church proclaims this title, which so many in the Church desire her to formally have.


http://www.dolorans.com/

Excellent article...

http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Blog/3342/Why_a_silence_On_the_West_and_Islam.aspx